Mario Strikers producer says Friend Code is tied to Mii, not game-specific
by David Hinkle 
{ May 29th 2007 at 2:45PM }
In a revelation that could only be compared to a certain young man finding out an evil Sith lord is his father, producer Justin Dowsedell for Next Level Games has confirmed that Friend Codes will not be game-specific. Rather, your code will be connected to your Mii, allowing you to keep the same code from game to game as you play in Nintendo's online catalog of games."Each Mii created generates a Mii code that never changes. This code will thus be used for all other online games in the future," comments Dowsedell. And with each Wii console holding up to 100 Miis, there are one trillion possible 12-digit friend codes, leaving plenty of possible Friend Code combinations up for grabs.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RupeeClock @ May 29th 2007 3:01PM
Do you know what this means?
If Smash Brothers Brawl is to include online play, then a higher chance of Mii involvement exists.
It's possible that it will be just like the 4 letter name profiles in Melee though, used for VS mode, rumble settings and tournaments.
vidGuy @ May 29th 2007 4:33PM
The more important thing about this, I think, is that a single user won't have multiple 12digit strings to give out. If I want to play Jim in Idaho, I get his 12digit number and can play him in any online game. That's a huge step in the right direction for Nintendo compared to the per-game-per-player codes of the DS and what we feared would be on the Wii.
This is absolutely great news for Wii online play!
Zan @ May 29th 2007 4:52PM
OMG, seriously guys! The game's already released in Europe, maybe you should just ask us. It's not really news!
maxchalk @ May 29th 2007 4:54PM
I've thought "Mii" would be an excellent SSBB character. Like a generic Mii with attacks, and then you just sub in your own guy?
The ultimate Nintendo all-star is YOU
KirbyMeister @ May 29th 2007 5:16PM
This is even better than a console-specific code. I just hope that the system doesn't ban you from using a foreign Mii; my main Mii (Granny) was designed by me on a friend's Wii before I even got one.
Plus, I think Nintendo thought of this before the Wii launch. The Mii data structure format has fields for unique IDs; Nintendo can't add that in without breaking every game that relies on the older Mii format. Data structures are fragile, unless you're using something already designed with extensibility in mind.
Rubang B @ May 29th 2007 7:31PM
Miis are going to make up the leaderboards for every Wii game now, so even if your name is 1337CobraDog, we'll all have a face to the name!
And I do really hope there's a Mii option in Brawl. It's nice to see that your Miis can battle Mario and co. in Mario Party 8, but they should just throw some generic moves (or custom create-a-character style moves, or cloned moves from other fighters) onto a Mii and let you throw your face on it for Brawl.
bboyspaz @ May 29th 2007 10:25PM
THANK GOD!!!!!! thats all i can say.
Nushio @ May 29th 2007 9:28PM
Thats definitely a step in the right direction.
Still not completely satisfied (Ring your homie and tell him your 12 digit number... its not exactly smart/easy), but at least I only have to do it once.
Smoke @ May 30th 2007 9:11AM
I was kinda expecting/hoping this to be true after hearing friendcodes were tied to Miis for Mario Strikers. It seemed logical enough anyway.
One fun thing is that it means you can take your Mii with you to another console, and play different online titles with it, using the same friendcode. And you don't have to worry about your little brother/cousin/other relative screwing with your stats or friends: They just get their own.
I'd say this is superior to the XBox Live ID system, and a bit more versatile. And I still say friendcodes are superior, because you can use any name you want.
Also, another possibility: If you ever sell your Wii and keep the Wiimote with your Mii on it, you can buy a new one later and continue using your codes.
However, there's one thing I'm a bit worried about: Friendcode spoofing. Miis can be transferred to a PC and edited there, and the friendcode might be stored in said Mii in some way. If this is editable and there's no verification, someone could spoof your code and screw up your stats. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there's some safeguard against that too(Most likely by verifying the Mii FC against the Wii FC or something similar)